Electra (Sophocles)

Elektra

Overview

Synopsis

Electra is a saga about murder and revenge. Agamemnon, the father of the house, was killed by his unfaithful wife, Clytaemnestra, with the help of her sinister lover, Aegisthus, as retribution for having sacrificed their daughter, Iphigenia, to the gods. Meanwhile, her son Orestes was spirited away by their faithful servant Tutor in order to safeguard him against a similar fate. Though Clytaemnestra's weak-willed daughter, Chrysothemis, has made peace with the situation, her defiant sister, Electra, still bemoans her father's fate. Electra awaits the return of the grown Orestes in the hopes that he might to avenge their father's death. The action of Sophocles' play focuses on the inner turmoil and laments of Electra, who feels incapable of acting alone.